| Newnan, Georgia | |||
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| — City — | |||
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| Motto: City of Homes | |||
| Location in Coweta County and the state of Georgia | |||
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Newnan
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| Coordinates: | |||
| Country | United States | ||
| State | Georgia | ||
| County | Coweta | ||
| Incorporated (city) | December 20, 1828 | ||
| Area | |||
| • Total | 18.1 sq mi (46.9 km2) | ||
| • Land | 17.9 sq mi (46.4 km2) | ||
| • Water | 0.2 sq mi (0.5 km2) | ||
| Elevation | 971 ft (296 m) | ||
| Population (2008) | |||
| • Total | 33,293 | ||
| • Density | 1,389.5/sq mi (577.8/km2) | ||
| Time zone | Eastern (EST) (UTC-5) | ||
| • Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) | ||
| Area code(s) | 770, 678 | ||
| FIPS code | 13-55020[1] | ||
| GNIS feature ID | 0332499[2] | ||
Newnan is a city in Coweta County, Georgia, about 30 miles southwest of Atlanta. The population was 16,242 at the 2000 Census. Newnan is one of the fastest growing cities in Georgia, with an estimated population of 27,097 in 2006 and 33,293 in July 2008. The city is the county seat of Coweta County.
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Newnan was established as county seat of Coweta County (replacing the defunct town of Bullsboro) in 1828 and was named for North Carolinian General Daniel Newnan. Newnan quickly became a prosperous magnet for lawyers, doctors, other professionals and merchants. Much of Newnan's prosperity was due to the thriving cotton industry, which relied on slavery. Newnan was largely untouched by the American Civil War due to its status as a hospital city (for Confederate troops), and as a result still features much antebellum architecture. Celebrated architect Kennon Perry designed many of the town's 20th Century homes. During the Atlanta Campaign, Confederate cavalry badly defeated Union forces at the nearby Battle of Brown's Mill.
Newnan was host to the trial in 1948 of wealthy landowner John Wallace, the first white man in the south to be condemned to death by the testimony of African Americans, two field hands who were made to help with burning the body of murdered white sharecropper Wilson Turner. These events were portrayed in the novel Murder in Coweta County. The film version starred Johnny Cash, Andy Griffith, and June Carter.
The Newnan/Sharspburg area is home to three high schools, Newnan High School (founded in 1887), East Coweta High School (founded in 1946), and Northgate High School (founded in 1996). Newnan is also home to The Heritage School, a small private school. Newnan is served by the Coweta County School System.
The city is home to one of the few Georgia counties with a museum that focuses mainly on African American history. The Coweta County African American Heritage Museum and Research Center, or Caswell House, was opened in July 2003 in a donated mill village house once owned by Ruby Caswell. The museum sits on Farmer St. on an old, unmarked, slave cemetery. It has collected hundreds of family genealogical records by interviewing residents and going through the census records. The museum also houses the Coweta Census Indexes from 1870 to 1920.[3] The first black library in the county was the Sara Fisher Brown Library. Built in the 1950s, the library has since been converted into the Community Action For Improvement Center.[4] The "Farmer Street Cemetery" is the largest slave cemetery in the south, and may be the largest undisturbed in the Nation. It is in the city limits of Newnan and was recently cleaned up again in August and September 2011.
Newnan is located at (33.376411, -84.788648)[5].
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 18.1 square miles (47 km2) of which 17.9 square miles (46 km2) is land and 0.2 square miles (0.52 km2) (1.05%) is water.
| Climate data for Newnan | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Average high °F (°C) | 52 (11) |
58 (14) |
65 (18) |
73 (23) |
80 (27) |
86 (30) |
89 (32) |
88 (31) |
83 (28) |
73 (23) |
64 (18) |
55 (13) |
89 (32) |
| Average low °F (°C) | 31 (−1) |
33 (1) |
40 (4) |
47 (8) |
56 (13) |
64 (18) |
68 (20) |
67 (19) |
62 (17) |
49 (9) |
41 (5) |
33 (1) |
31 (−1) |
| Precipitation inches (mm) | 5.49 (139.4) |
5.14 (130.6) |
5.95 (151.1) |
4.17 (105.9) |
4.37 (111) |
3.99 (101.3) |
4.66 (118.4) |
4.00 (101.6) |
3.24 (82.3) |
2.86 (72.6) |
4.18 (106.2) |
4.27 (108.5) |
52.32 (1,328.9) |
| Source: The Weather Channel[6] | |||||||||||||
Newnan is a shopping hub and has experienced rapid commercial development. One of the new developments is Ashley Park, an open-air shopping mall near I-85, anchored by Dillard's, and Belk department stores along with a large movie theater and dozens of other well-known retailers and restaurants.
As of the census[1] of 2000, there were 16,242 people, 5,939 households, and 3,973 families residing in the city. The population density was 906.4 people per square mile (349.9/km²). There were 6,464 housing units at an average density of 360.7 per square mile (139.3/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 54.08% White, 42.15% African American, 0.20% Native American, 0.73% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 1.59% from other races, and 1.23% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.96% of the population.
There were 5,939 households out of which 34.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 39.0% were married couples living together, 23.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.1% were non-families. 27.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.60 and the average family size was 3.16.
In the city the population was spread out with 27.8% under the age of 18, 10.4% from 18 to 24, 31.9% from 25 to 44, 18.2% from 45 to 64, and 11.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females there were 91.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.5 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $36,142, and the median income for a family was $43,243. Males had a median income of $36,786 versus $25,314 for females. The per capita income for the city was $19,081. About 17.6% of families and 19.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 29.1% of those under age 18 and 18.1% of those age 65 or over.
The Coweta County School District holds grades pre-school to grade twelve, that consists of eighteen elementary schools, six middle schools, and three high schools.[7] The district has 1,164 full-time teachers and over 18,389 students.[8]
Mercer University has a Regional Academic Center in Newnan. The center, opened in 2010, offers programs through the university's College of Continuing and Professional Studies. The University of West Georgia has a campus located in Newnan, near I-85. This campus is currently holding two undergraduate programs- Bachelors of Science in Nursing and Early Childhood Education. [9] Newnan is also home to a campus of West Georgia Technical College. [10]
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